Wandering Engineer 6: Pirates Bane (34 page)

“We've met,” the Admiral replied, smiling. “He's got a lot of
prosthetics like me.”

“Not nearly on your level though,” Sprite said in an aside to him.
The Admiral ignored it.

“Yes,” Marty said, nodding. “I always wondered how and why the
tissue didn't reject the grafts. And why he didn't get cloned replacements. Was
it a choice?”

“No,” the Admiral said slowly. “For some of us, it wasn't a
choice. Or not much of one. In his case the medical establishment was
overwhelmed with wounded and refugees and they did the best they could for him
at the time.”

“Oh, I see,” Marty, said. They entered the infirmary and the dog
immediately went to the nearest electrical outlet. It turned and then lifted
it's right rear leg. Marty sputtered as a plug deployed from a very masculine
place and plugged the dog in. Holly tuned and then squeaked in embarrassment
and dismay when she realized what the dog was doing.

Marty looked at her. Irons caught the look and turned. Holly was
blushing beat red. Marty chuckled softly.

“Oh shut up!” she said, laughing herself.

“I guess it's just something we'll have to get used to,” Marty
said maliciously. “I'm curious about the food, water, and um, waste,” he said.

“Oh boy,” Holly muttered. “What did I get myself into?” she
demanded.

The Admiral smiled. Too late to get out now, he thought. “How is
our Ssilli friend doing?”

“She's comfortable as she can be for now,” Marty said as Sprite
opened her mouth on his HUD. She closed it and then shrugged. “We've flushed
her tank and done the best we can to filter out the waste particles. We need to
do a full purge and scrub down, but that's not going to happen until we can get
her into another tank.”

“Which isn't going to happen anytime soon,” Holly said sadly. “If
at all. We're doing the best we can to treat her sores and infections. She's
sweet, but a little senile. Or demented. She is suspicious, thinking this is
all some sort of trick.”

“Understood,” the Admiral said with a nod.

“Admiral, if you could jack in to the dog, I might be able to shed
some light on its age and history,” Sprite said.

“Um, we're having a different discussion right now Commander, can
it wait?” Irons asked.

“If I wait you'll forget and leave. This will only take a moment.
Please continue your conversation. Don't mind me,” she said. He grunted as she
tugged on his motor cortex. Reluctantly he went over to the dog. It looked up
at him. He knelt and signaled his right hand to morph.

“That never get's old,” Marty breathed, watching fascinated.

“Let's see what we have here,” the Admiral said, plugging in. He
felt Sprite and Proteus go to work. He turned to the Doctor. “You were saying Doctor?”

“Oh um, huh?”

“The Ssilli?” Irons prompted.

“Oh yes, that,” the Doctor replied. “Her. She's had a rough life.
She's old Admiral, past her prime.”

“The Ssilli equivalent of menopause?” the Admiral asked.

“No, not quite that far. But malnutrition, psychological and
physical trauma have certainly taken their toll.”

“Okay.”

“Vinatelli,” Sprite said. “Him again.”

The Admiral frowned and held up his left hand to the humans. They
paused uncomfortably. “Say that again Commander?”

“Leonardo Da Vinatelli.”

“Okay, and...”

“He created the dog about ten years ago. Or the robot body at
least. Apparently it was a pet of someone that worked for him.”

“And how do you know all this?” the Admiral asked. His mind
whirled with the implications. They had known the Horathian's had crude
cybernetic implant tech, but to take it to this level?

“He disappeared from Antigua where he rose to become a major
inventor and research engineer. Brilliant. A Leonardo. The family rose with him
on his coat tails. They survived off the money from his inventions.”

“Patents?”

“Yes. He was tied to the Eternia city. I ran across a few
references to him when we were in Antigua. I just cross referenced them, but
that's all I have.”

“Okay, so obviously he set up shop somewhere else?”

“It looks that way Admiral. And this man is brilliant. He recreated
things, some just from parsing them out logically. Quite the engineering
innovator.”

“I see,” the Admiral said. Proteus reported on his HUD that the
nanites had repaired the body the best they could. The animal's life support
system needed to be purged and refreshed.

“Okay,” the Admiral said, unjacking. He stood and turned. “Proteus
has done what he can to repair the robot body. Sprite was there a manual in the
firmware?”

“Yes.”

“Dump it into the system and send a link to the Doctors. Bookmark
the section on the nutrient care.”

“Understood. Done.”

“Good. Glad that's settled,” he said.

“At least we found out it wasn't a Neodog,” Sprite said softly.
Irons nodded.

Holly looked stricken at the very idea. Her husband touched her
arm. “They said it wasn't,” he murmured.

“No, but the very idea!” she said.

“From what we've gathered about the Horathian's they are guilty of
far worse,” Sprite said. “You have experienced it first hand,” she said as
Holly shivered. Her husband wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

The Admiral turned, letting them get their emotions under control.

“Have you had anyone request the implants be removed?” he asked.

Marty rubbed Holly's biceps briefly and then shook his head. “No,
none. Not that we expected anyone to want them removed.”

“I still need to ask. And offer restitution,” the Admiral said.

“Why?”

“I...” Irons sighed. “Look. I violated a major medical ethic by
giving people implants without permission and another when I used my own tech
to repair them.”

“Oh,” Marty said. He shook his head. “Admiral, I highly doubt
anyone will object. Ever. You did the right thing. Sometimes it's like that,
we've both been through it,” he said, squeezing his wife's arm. Holly nodded.
“We've had times where you have to treat a patient when they are unconscious,
or when they are not in their right mind.”

“I know, but I'm not a Doctor. I'm an engineer.”

“Oh,” Marty replied.

“It's fine,” Holly murmured, arms crossed. “We're fine. Move on,”
she said.

“All right,” the Admiral said, feeling a sense of relief over
that. He knew it wasn't quite over, they couldn't speak for everyone, but at
least someone accepted it. “The Ssilli?”

“Her name is Nata'roka,” Holly supplied. Irons nodded. “She's from
your time. She has implants she was a hyper-navigator.
Is
a hyper-navigator
I should say. If she'll do it for us.”

“Okay,” the Admiral replied thoughtfully.

“You should meet her soon. A talk with her might help her. She's
justifiably depressed over the state of her species. Is it true that... I mean,
are they really trying in Pyrax? To bring them back?”

“Ssilli, Malekian's and other species yes,” the Admiral replied
with a nod. “They have one member from each of those two species, also
sleepers. But they also have the genetic files and medical data on file.
Hopefully they can combine the two to recreate the species.”

“But they aren't the Ynari... I mean...”

“No, but once someone has done something, they can do it again.
And with more members of the species...” he indicated the Ssilli. “They have a
greater chance of succeeding.

“So, are we going to take her to Pyrax?”

“Eventually,” the Admiral said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “I
haven't actually got that far in the plan just yet. Right now I'm focusing on
the immediate objectives of getting the ships sorted out.”

“I see,” Marty replied, nodding.

Holly looked at the dog and sighed. “Is he just going to stand
like that forever?”

“He's charging rather inefficient batteries,” Sprite replied from
the overhead. “Charge time varies according to how badly they are drained. I
suspect he will be finished in about an hour,” she said.

“Lovely,” Holly said, shaking her head and looking at the dog. She
turned, looking away.

“Nata'roka has implants. Informational and stage one geriatric
implants or treatments,” Sprite said. “But the Horathian's locked her out
through both software and hardware. I've been sending her some information, but
she can't get into the ship's net herself. Admiral, could you do something
about that?”

Irons nodded. “I can certainly look into it,” he said.

“Good, because she still thinks you are a phantom. Meeting you
would solidify what I've said to her is true in her mind.”

“I see,” the Admiral replied.

“Admiral, can we get implants? I mean...” Marty waved helplessly.

The Admiral turned to the Doctor. “I can do some implant tech to a
degree, but I am prohibited on it. I've bent the rules a few times on Epsilon
Triangula and, well, here,” he shrugged uncomfortably. “But really, the person
you should be asking that question is you.”

“Me sir?” Marty asked. He looked at his wife in confusion. “Why
me?” he asked, turning back to the Admiral. “I mean, I'm a ship's Doctor,
not...” he waved his hand helplessly.

“I think you can do a lot if you put your mind to it. And if you
have the right materials and tools,” Sprite said. “The Admiral recently
reminded me that you... you organics and us AI have a will. A spirit. If you
believe in yourself you can achieve things. I think you can do it.”

“Here?” the Doctor asked, looking around the tiny infirmary. There
were six beds, all filled with wounded. Two of them were Horathians. They were
handcuffed to the beds. A guard robot was nearby watching them carefully.

“What happened on Epsilon?” Holly asked suddenly.

“A lot. It's a long story,” Sprite said. “I've uploaded the
information to you, and... I've just uploaded the log on our adventures on
Epsilon. I think you will find the medical experience illuminating, even if it
was during a plague.”

“Plague?” Rajesh asked, looking up from where he was sitting at
the nurses' station. “Did you say plague?”

“Yes. It's dead. Long story short, a Xeno plague was unleashed
when some unfortunate people opened a sleeper pod trap. We worked with the
medics on the planet to kill it.”

“Oh.”

“Do you honestly think we can do implants too Admiral?”

“I've seen you do more with a lot less. The same on Epsilon. With
a little guidance and the right tools,” the Admiral nodded.

“Besides, you've given us a head start already,” Marty said. “Can
you do it to me too? It's not fair that my lovely nurse has implants but I
don't.”

“I can give you basic information implants yes,” Irons said
cautiously as Sprite put a yellow light up on his HUD.

“Basic? There... yes, different, Um, yeah, I remember different
packages,” Marty nodded thoughtfully. “Civilian you said?”

“In order to give you military grade Doctor, with military medical
protocols in the firmware, you would have to sign on as an officer. Or as an
enlisted for some,” he said, looking at Rajesh. A Doctor has a powerful code
set though, so it isn't taken lightly. There are ethical tests. And I must warn
you, if the Horathians or someone else ever catches you, the implants will kill
you.”

“But they didn't kill you?” Holly asked as her husband frowned.
She glanced at her husband and then Irons. “Somehow that doesn't sound right.”

“The protocol was overridden,” Irons smiled. “I had a plan. The
only way to fight was from the inside. So I convinced Defender to hold off.”

“Oh,” Holly replied.

“Think about it,” the Admiral said. He turned. “I'm going to go
check on our hyper-navigator. If you need me, page me,” he said.

“Thank you Admiral. You've certainly given us enough to read and
think about,” Marty said, picking up a tablet as his wife shrugged on her white
medical coat. He took his and then slipped an arm into it, still reading. His
wife took the tablet in exasperated amusement. He smiled as he shrugged the
coat on and then took the tablet back. “BP is holding steady?” he asked,
looking at Rajesh.

“Yes Doctor,” the SBA replied.

“Good.”

Irons exited smiling. “And, before you say it, yes I know that
discussion will hit the grapevine shortly.”

“Probably when one of them comes off shift. Or when someone visits
one of the patients who heard the entire thing. Once it hits the MPR and mess
it'll be all over the ship.”

“Exactly,” the Admiral said.

“Almost as if you planned it all in advance,” Sprite said, amused.

“Maybe,” the Admiral replied with a slight smile.

<----*----*----*---->

The Admiral was stopped a few times to help out a tech or confused
crewman. Each time he showed them what they needed to know, and had Sprite
upload tutorials to them. The AI had set up an E-mail system, but so far only
some of the crew had learned how to use it.